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Royal abdication

Meath do not inspire fear in Leinster the way they used to

Before the 1990 All-Ireland final, Billy Morgan and the Cork masseur, Kid Cronin, got talking about the prospect of facing Meath in an All-Ireland for the third time in four years. Meath had won the two previous meetings and Cronin used his boxing brain to underline what was facing Cork in the other corner. “They are granite-jawed and stubborn,” said Cronin. “If we can’t knock them out, we have to outpoint them. We have to be prepared to go the full 15 rounds.”

During that period, Cork and Meath went to war like two prize-fighters. Morgan admitted to making the biggest mistake of his footballing life at half-time in the 1988 replayed final when cancelling prior instructions after Meath had Gerry McEntee sent off. Meath roughed up Cork in the second half and it took Cork another two years to finally deal with Meath. “The Meath psyche,” wrote Morgan in